U.S., Others Focus on Venezuela Strike
By KEN GUGGENHEIM Associated Press Writer January 24, 2003, 4:55 PM EST
WASHINGTON -- Officials from the United States and five other countries looked for ways on Friday to end a violent political strike in Venezuela that has crippled oil production in the world's fifth largest exporter.
The strike has lasted more than seven weeks to press opposition demands that President Hugo Chavez resign or call early elections. Opponents say Chavez's leftist policies have undermined business in Venezuela; Chavez's supporters say the opposition wants to bring down a democratically elected president who enjoys strong support among the nation's many poor.
In a sign of U.S. interest in a diplomatic resolution, Secretary of State Colin Powell attended the start of a meeting at the Organization of American States that included officials from Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Spain and Portugal -- members of a new "Friends of Venezuela" group.
"It's a meeting of friends, so I believe you should have positive expectations for the Venezuelan democracy," Venezuelan Foreign Minister Roy Chaderton told reporters in Spanish as he arrived for the meeting.
Among proposals to be considered were some offered by former President Jimmy Carter to end the strike in exchange for early elections.
Before the meeting, a State Department official said its purpose was to lay out a work agenda, possibly to name a coordinator and to allow OAS Secretary General Cesar Gaviria to outline his view of the state of the negotiations.
Gaviria has been spending months almost full time in Venezuela trying with little success to bring the parties together.
Miguel Diaz, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the talks at the OAS were critical.
"If this doesn't pan out, I think Venezuela is left to its own devices," he said. "I'm not sure the Venezuelans themselves will be able to find their way through this crisis without major bloodshed."
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Thursday the United States considers the Venezuelan situation "to be very tense, to be very difficult, and that the urgency of reaching a peaceful resolution remains."
Boucher rejected a suggestion that U.S. interest in Venezuela is linked to the likelihood of war in Iraq and the turmoil it could cause in international oil markets.
The United States has approached the latest Venezuelan turmoil gingerly. The Bush administration has little regard for Chavez, who has visited Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and is a close friend of Cuban President Fidel Castro. But after stressing the importance of democracy to the region, it doesn't want to be seen as undermining a constitutionally elected government.
The administration received sharp criticism for appearing to support a coup attempt in April. It has said it opposes any change in Venezuela outside the constitution.
Michael Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue research group said the April coup has caused the United States to take "more of a hands-off posture" to Venezuela.
"That's not an answer because the chaos is continuing," he said. "The United States is one of the few actors that could positively affect the outcome of this."
While the United States is seen as being able to influence Venezuela's opposition leaders, Brazil's new government, led by leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is seen as potentially influential with Chavez.
Chavez has said he welcomed international help but warned against outside intervention in Venezuela's affairs.
Violence continued in Venezuela on Thursday when a pipe bomb exploded in Caracas as 300,000 people were rallying to support Chavez. One person was killed an at least 14 wounded.
- __ On the Net: OAS: www.oas.org